Alex Ovechkin caught Wayne Gretzky for the all-time NHL goal-scoring record on Friday, with his two-goal performance also lifting the host Washington Capitals to a 5-3 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks.
The pair gives the Capitals captain 894 goals, matching Gretzky’s mark.
A capacity crowd, including Gretzky and NHL commissioner Gary Bettman, was on hand to watch Ovechkin, and he gave a show. His second goal of the night came from the left faceoff circle off a pass from John Carlson that beat sliding goalie Spencer Knight to the lower left on a power play at 6:13 of the third period, giving the Capitals a 4-3 lead.
Dylan Strome scored and assisted on Ovechkin’s first goal. Martin Fehervary also scored for Washington, and Ryan Leonard notched his first career goal. Carlson tied his season high with three assists.
Charlie Lindgren stopped 19 shots as Washington (49-18-9, 107 points) won for the second time in three games.
Frank Nazar finished with a goal and an assist for the Blackhawks (21-45-10, 52 points). Philipp Kurashev and Tyler Bertuzzi also scored. Oliver Moore earned his first NHL points with a pair of assists, and Landon Slaggert posted two as well. Knight made 24 saves but could not keep Chicago from its fifth straight defeat.
Ovechkin opened the scoring at 3:52 of the first period with his 40th goal of the season.
Bertuzzi tied the game 10 minutes later, capitalizing on a loose puck in the crease with Lindgren on the other side of the net. Nazar gave the Blackhawks the lead 31 seconds into the second period.
Fehervary tied the game with 12:51 left in the second, beating Chicago’s Connor Murphy to a puck that got past Knight thanks to a shot from Connor McMichael. However, the Blackhawks reclaimed the lead 10 seconds later when Kurashev scored after the ensuing faceoff.
Strome was credited with a power-play goal with 16:14 left in regulation. It looked as if Ovechkin would get to it, but it was Murphy who knocked it into his team’s net.
After Ovechkin’s record-tying tally, Chicago pulled Knight, and that led to Leonard’s first goal in his third career game with 1:36 left. Ovechkin had his chances after that, shooting four times. Only one of those was on the net, and Knight saved that, drawing boos from the crowd.
Logan Thompson, Washington’s top goalie, did not play Friday due to an upper-body injury he sustained in a loss Wednesday at Carolina. In addition, Aliaksei Protas, a 30-goal-scoring forward for the Capitals, left the game midway through the third period.
